Never Say I Don't
by LitLover 101
Summary: On the day of her picture perfect wedding day to Tyler, Caroline is shocked to see her ex-husband, Klaus, appear. He's come to inform her that there's one little problem with her marrying Tyler, because she's still married to Klaus. Now, she has to choose between her new love and her old. What will she do? A requested story for Carlatab.
1. Chapter 1

On the day of her picture perfect wedding day to Tyler, Caroline is shocked to see her ex-husband, Klaus, appear. He's come to inform her that there's one little problem with her marrying Tyler, because she's still married to Klaus. Now, she has to choose between her new love and her old. What will she do? A requested story for Carlatab.

****Disclaimer: I do not own The Vampire Diaries TV show. That honor goes to Julie Plec and Kevin Williamson.****

**Hello, my lovely readers. This is a story that was requested by Carlatab a looooonnnnnng time ago that I meant to post many, many months ago. The premise for this story is hers and I would like to thank her for believing in my abilities as a writer to write her baby. On with the show…**

Chapter 1: Wedding Day Blues

Sucking in a deep breath, Caroline Forbes ran her tongue over her lower lip. 'Should she be wearing white today?' she thought silently, walking over to the dresser in Tyler's childhood room. She plucked up a pair of diamond drop earrings and slid each one into her earlobes, attempting to push her thoughts into a box that she then mentally kicked to the back of her mental closet. She was getting married today. She was happy. Everything was perfect. What could go wrong?

Walking with purpose to the door, Caroline picked up the end of her long dress and wrapped her hand around the doorknob. Pulling the door open, Caroline's jaw dropped when she found her older brother, Damon, standing with an open bottle of champagne in his hand. "Damon!" Caroline hissed. "What are you doing? You can't be drunk on my wedding day. Are you insane?"

Damon hiccupped before grinning widely. "According to my therapist 'I have issues." He retorted with a chuckle.

Caroline rolled her eyes and crossed her arms over her chest. "I cannot believe that you would do this to me. This is my wedding day, Damon. Of all the days that you could do this, you pick today. Seriously, Damon! Does Elena know that you're drunk?" Looking over Damon's shoulder, Caroline searched for her bridesmaid through narrowed eyes. She would happily tear into her sister-in-law for not keeping her husband in check for one, very special day.

"Sheesh, Elena knew I was dunk on our wedding day. She just went with the flow," Damon informed Caroline as he began to sway and fell back against the opposite wall.

"I am going to kill you," Caroline hissed through clenched teeth.

Shaking his head back and forth slowly, Damon smirked. "No, you won't. You always say you will, but you never have."

Widening her eyes, Caroline threw her hands up in the air. "Damon, you are supposed to walk me down the aisle. You know how important this is to me!"

"Yeah, I do and I don't know why you chose me. Why not the good twin, Saint Stefan?" Damon snorted when he mentioned his nickname for Stefan.

"He is not a saint," Caroline snapped as her shoulders slumped. "You know that I wouldn't have asked you if there were anyone else."

Rolling his eyes, Damon narrowed them at his sister. "Number one, of course Stefan is a saint. Between the three of us he is the only good one. And number two there are plenty of men who would give you away." Beginning to laugh as Caroline's face turned red, Damon doubled over and nearly upended the bottle on the floor. "Number three, I am not your father so you can get over it. I'm not going to be the perfect grownup…"

Squeezing her eyes shut for a moment, Caroline sucked in a deep breath as her eyes filled with tears. It had only been a year since their father had had a heart attack and the Salvatore siblings had to come together to take care of each other while their Mother, Liz, forced one foot in front of the other. "Damon, please. Just go downstairs and drink some coffee. The wedding is about to start like really, really soon."

Opening his mouth and then closing it, Damon moved closer and looked down at Caroline. "Ask Stefan to do this. I. Am. Out. Of. Here." With that said, Damon whirled around and nearly fell on his face.

"Seriously!" Caroline shouted after her brother's departing back as he held up his hand and wiggled his fingers in a good-bye wave. "Damon!" Caroline shouted.

"What was that about?" Bonnie called as she hurried past Damon to stop in front of Caroline, who looked like she was about to explode, her face was so red. "What did he do this time? Do you want me to find Stefan and tell him to kick his ass?"

Nodding, her head wordlessly before she had fully processed what Bonnie had said Caroline began to shake her head. "No, Damon's just being Damon. You know how it is. Family knows how to hurt you the best."

"Don't I know," Bonnie replied with a chuckle. Her sad smile reminded Caroline that her best friend and maid of honor had already lost both her parents and her grandmother in a matter of years. She had not seen her mother since she was a toddler only to be reunited with Abby at the age of seventeen. After gathering that Bonnie was relatively happy and healthy, Abby had disappeared to parts unknown once more. Her father came back a year later but after suffering from a heart attack he had left as well. Bonnie's grandmother had gone to sleep one night and never woke up. If anyone knew what it meant to be hurt by family whether it was intentional or otherwise, it was Bonnie.

Forcing a cheerful smile, Caroline began to walk toward the staircase. "So, you ready to walk down the aisle?"

Bonnie's eyebrows rose. "I think that's supposed to be my line, Care. Unless you want to switch places. I'm not sure how your groom would feel about that though."

Shrugging, Caroline grinned, looking very much like her older brother. "You never know. Maybe he'll like you better."

"Uh huh," Bonnie began to laugh as she shook her head. "Caroline, are you sure that you didn't indulge in a little bit of what was in that bottle that Damon had with him?" Quirking an eyebrow, Bonnie tried to look fierce but the attempt was lost because her lips kept moving upward into a grin.

"Bonnie Bennett, I cannot believe that you would have the nerve to accuse me of drinking on my wedding day," Caroline exclaimed mockingly before letting out a loud giggle. It was nice to have Bonnie with her in her final moments of freedom before she became tied to someone else for all of eternity. Feeling her eyes widen at her own thoughts, Caroline quickly averted her gaze.

"Why not? Everyone knows that Damon was drunk on his wedding day," Bonnie informed Caroline who held up a hand in protest.

"That, my friend, is an urban legend. Here's how the story really went. Elena was panicking because she couldn't find her mother's pearl necklace. I went to find it -" Caroline was saying when Bonnie interrupted her.

"Yes, I remember that. And then you disappeared. I thought you were out making out with Matt or something," Bonnie said thoughtfully.

"Yeah, well, I wasn't with Matt. We came to the wedding together because he didn't have a date that day," Caroline continued. "I found Damon and he was sitting on the floor of the room he was changing in. I could not believe it. I had never seen Damon as messed up as he was that night. He was freaking out, big time. Picture him sitting in his boxers." Stopping her speech, Caroline rolled her eyes as Bonnie's eyes glazed over and a dreamy smile appeared. "Snap out of it, Bennett. He's taken. Now, where was I… Oh, yeah. Okay. So, Damon was freaking out and he was crying. Yes, Damon freaking Salvatore, the guy with no sensitivity at all, was sobbing like a baby. This scared the hell out of me. I thought that something happened to Mom or Dad or Stef. But it was all because Damon was determined that he was the worst thing ever for Elena and he was freaking out so badly. Stefan showed up with a bottle of champagne and sat down with him. I kept pouring the drinks with my back turned and after the first two glasses Damon didn't seem notice that I was serving him water. That's why he and everyone else thought he was drunk and really needed to pee during the ceremony."

"Oh my God. That is a great story. I have to tell Jeremy," Bonnie informed Caroline with a wide grin.

"Nope," Caroline shook her head furiously. "You can't. Damon will kill me if he ever finds out that I'm the reason that he nearly peed himself walking away from the altar. I guess half the wedding night was spent in the bathroom."

Beginning to laugh even harder, Bonnie sucked in deep breath and wiped the tears from her eyes. "Are you ready to get married?"

"Sure. Why not?" Caroline replied with another one of those forced cheerful smiles. "But before I do I want you to spill the details on you and Jeremy."

"What? What me and Jeremy?" Bonnie looked confused as her eyebrows scrunched together. "Caroline, stop trying to play matchmaker. Jeremy is a good friend and he didn't have a date and I didn't have date. So, we're here together. End of story. When I meet someone that I want to date, you will be the first to know. Now, are you getting your scrawny butt down that aisle or do I have to tell the groom that you decided to hightail it the hell out here?"

"I did always want to go to Brazil," Caroline replied thoughtfully before smiling genuinely. "Who's going to walk me down the aisle now that Damon bailed on me?"

"Stefan," Bonnie answered as if it was obvious. "You know that Saint Stefan would do anything for you."

"Why does everyone always call him that?" Caroline blew out a frustrated breath as she spoke.

"Because Stefan is the good twin and you're the reformed bad twin," Bonnie replied with a shrug and a wide grin.

"I should kick your ass. Maid of honor or not," Caroline retorted.

"Are you ever going to get your booty down the aisle?" Elena Salvatore called as she appeared in a dark green, sleeveless dress that stopped at right above the knee. Her wide grin told the tale of a young woman who was perfectly content with the life that fate had bestowed on her. For a moment Caroline felt a spark of the old jealousy that used to consume her when they were in high school but she had made her peace with that demon long ago.

"Yes," Caroline replied. "But Damon ditched me. Can you think of a replacement?"

"Saint Stefan," Elena deadpanned with a giggle.

"Seriously!" Caroline shouted startling a group of catering people who were walking through the area with trays for the reception. Taking a deep, calming breath, Caroline forced yet another smile. "I do not want Stefan to walk me down that aisle. Okay!" Feeling her anger making her face flush, Caroline sucked in another deep breath.

"Caroline, you're kidding, right?" Elena shook her head. "If you want me to find Damon and threaten to withhold sex for a week I can do that. Although he will not be the only one being punished in that case."

"First of all, eww. Please, do not talk to me about sex with my brother. Second, no I'm not kidding. I do not want Stefan walking me down the aisle," Caroline replied quietly but firmly.

"Why?" Elena asked.

"Is it because of Kl-?" Bonnie asked before she could stop herself.

Caroline turned around on her heel to look at her friend and Bonnie knew that she had said the wrong thing. "Do not say his name today. Do you understand me," she whispered darkly.

Feeling her body tremble, Caroline remembered another day in which she had worn a light blue sun dress and a young man with dark, curly hair had taken her hand and made solemn vows to love, cherish and obey her till death do them part. He had carried her out of the church in his arms in spite of her protests that that was not tradition. His older brother had seemed to be amused at their antics as he opened an umbrella because, wouldn't you know London decided to be nice and stereotypical and rain poured down on them. The three had boarded a bus and Caroline had insisted on climbing to the top so that they could have privacy during the first minutes of their life together. "I love you," she had whispered, staring up at him with a wide grin as rain poured down on them and he pressed his lips to hers.

Blocking the thoughts from her mind, Caroline walked to the doors of the Lockwood mansion and she pulled them open. Outside there was light classical music playing that she had requested that calmed her nerves. Taking ahold of her veil, she pulled it down and waited for her bridesmaids to step in front of her. Giving a quick decisive nod, she marched toward the makeshift aisle. On either side were her and Tyler's friends and family. Well, what was left of their friends and families.

Tyler's parents were both gone. That was a good thing since Carol Lockwood had always treated Caroline with barely contained suspicion. As for Tyler's father, Caroline thought that the former mayor was a dick. Smiling behind her veil as she passed by the assorted guests, Caroline sighed in relief when she spotted Mason Lockwood. She had been afraid that Tyler's only family would not be able to attend due to living out of state and some crock of shit he had been spewing about obligations to his friends, Jules and Brady.

Moving her head to the left, Caroline smiled when she saw Jeremy standing beside one of Caroline's friends from college. She thought the girl's name was Anna. It was funny, college felt like forever ago but it was only four years since she had graduated. She had tried to keep in touch with her friends from Whitmore but, honestly, the good memories had been clouded over by later events.

Katherine and Tatia Gilbert, Elena's identical sisters were gossiping about someone in the aisle in front of them and Caroline's eyes traveled to the front aisle as she thought that she was so happy that she was a twin, not a triplet. Stefan was standing beside his girlfriend, Rebekah Mikaelson. Growling quietly, Caroline planned on telling "Saint Stefan" what she thought of his bringing the blonde to her wedding. Of all the people Stefan could have picked it had to be Rebekah. Rebekah seemed to feel Caroline's glare because she blushed and then moved to speak to someone on her other side.

As Caroline got closer her heart sunk as she recognized Elijah Mikaelson standing by his sister's side. Kol was on the other. He waved and Caroline felt her cheeks flush bright red beneath her veil. How could Stefan do this to her? Forcing her head to spin toward Tyler, Caroline felt her head moving against her will as she looked for the head of dark, curly hair again. Not seeing him, she did not know whether she felt relieved or disappointed.

Stopping at the end of the aisle, Caroline placed her hand in Tyler's and turned to face him. As she moved to face him out of her peripheral vision she saw two men appear at the end of the aisle. Inclining her head to peek at the two men, Caroline cursed under her breath when she saw Damon sitting down next the object of her irritation.

"Care, is something wrong?" Tyler asked, his eyes filling with concern.

"No. Everything's great. Can we hurry this up?" Caroline asked, turning her attention to the preacher who blinked back at her.

"Yes, of course. Dearly beloved," the preacher intoned and Caroline decided to tune him out. Beginning to tap her foot, Caroline's head would incline every once in a while to take in the two men at the back of the audience. Tyler was holding her hands and she was beginning to squeeze his maybe a little too tightly given the smile that had become frozen on his face as his eyes questioned hers. It was a good thing the veil was down; otherwise he would see the sorrow etched into her face.

"If anyone can think of a reason that this man and this woman should not be wed today, please, speak now or forever hold you peace," the preacher intoned and Caroline wanted to kick him.

When there was no sound Caroline spoke up. "It looks like no objections. Can we do the vows now?"

"Ye-" the preacher began when someone coughed loudly and Caroline turned to look at Stefan who had made the noise but he was looking at something else.

Turning her gaze slowly toward the back of the rows and rows of chairs, Caroline was sure she would kill him. Damon was on his feet. "I wanted to say something."

"Damon," Caroline growled but Elena was making her way toward her husband with a death glare that Caroline was sure meant that Damon would be punished for this.

"My friend, Klaus has something that he would like to tell the bride before this whole thing gets too out of hand, so to speak," Damon told everyone and Caroline looked at Klaus who had stood up and was now standing at the end of the aisle.

"Caroline, if I could have a word with you, love," Klaus called out and Caroline felt her heart squeeze painfully in her chest at the sight of him.

"I think that you're a little too late, Klaus," Caroline snapped, pulling her veil up. "You see I'm in the middle of something. It's called a wedding. If you can wait for about ten more minutes or until never then I will be happy to speak with you."

"Caroline, you really do want to listen to what I have to say," Klaus replied calmly and Caroline controlled the desire to walk down the aisle and slap him, hard.

Scoffing, Caroline turned back to Tyler. "If you will give me just one, teeny moment. I will be right back," she whispered.

Tyler nodded but he did not look happy. "Don't take too long."

"I won't. I promise," Caroline replied before hurrying down the aisle. Walking across the lawn until they were out of earshot, Caroline glowered at Klaus. "So, what's so important that you had to interrupt the most important day of my life?"

Klaus chuckled. "You know, Caroline, traditionally speaking, this is not the most important day of your life since this is not your first wedding."

"Well, you would be wrong, Klaus, because this is my first, real wedding. The other one was a joke and a big, fat mistake. Now, if you will excuse me I have to get married to someone worthy of me." Whirling around, Caroline was about to walk away from Klaus when he grabbed her by the wrist.

"Caroline, do not walk away from me," Klaus snarled, his face contorting and his lip curling back to expose his teeth. Softening at her frightened expression, Klaus sighed heavily. "Will you just listen to me for once in your young life?" Nodding, Caroline waited for Klaus to tell her whatever it was that was so important to him. "We are still married, sweetheart."

"What?" Caroline gasped, feeling the world beginning to spin. "That's impossible."

"You forgot to sign the divorce papers. Therefore, yes, it is highly possible," Klaus replied quietly.

Caroline looked toward Tyler at the end of the aisle. He looked concerned and she had no idea what to say other than. "Seriously!"

**I want to thank everyone who reads this story and ask if people have a minute or two to write a review so that I can send them to Carlatab to let her know how the story is going. **

**Thank you to everyone who favs, follows, reads and/or reviews our story. And thank you to everyone who favs and/or follows me as an author. **

**Peace,**

**Jessica**


	2. Chapter 2

**Hello, my lovely readers. And we're back. Thank you all for all the lovely favs, follows, reviews and for reading. Please, keep them coming because they are awesome and make my day. On with the show… **

Chapter 2: Arrogant Son of a Bitch

Caroline could feel her chest heaving. Her mind was whirling through the possibilities and could only come up with one; Klaus was a liar. Fortunately, Caroline already knew that Klaus was the king of liars. Damn him. Damn him for doing this to her. Shaking her head slowly, Caroline tried to not show her growing panic as the guests turned to stare at Caroline and Klaus as Tyler shifted from foot to foot, looking more pensive by the minute.

Finally, Caroline looked up at Klaus through narrowed eyes with her shoulders squared. "You're a _liar_ and you're _insane_. Now, you can leave _willingly_ or I will let _security_ escort you out," she said with a wide smile as if they were having a pleasant conversation.

Klaus smirked down at her and even had the nerve to wave at Tyler who waved back with a look of bewilderment. "_No_, love, I can assure you that you will do _no_ such thing for two reasons. One, you do not want me to make a scene and as much as I do so _hate_ to draw that type of attention to ourselves when we could settle things in a more _private_ manner." Klaus turned his back to the assembled guests, cutting off Caroline's view of Tyler as his eyes roved over her dress. "And, _oh_, I would relish the opportunity to settle things with you when you look so _stunning_."

Drawing in a quick breath, Caroline felt her cheeks begin to turn rosy as Klaus' stare made her conjure up images of lying with him in bed during their honeymoon with a bottle of whip cream. No, he would not do this to her. He would not reel her back in. He had her and he lost her. And there was no way in hell she would allow him to hurt her like the last time. "Caroline!" Elena cried from behind Klaus.

Caroline peered around Klaus just as Elena moved around him with her hand on her protruding bump. Giving Klaus a scathing look, Elena focused her attention on Caroline. "Caroline, what's going on? _Who_ is this guy? People are asking whether you're going to ditch Ty and Ty looks like he's about to have a heart attack up there. And who in the hell are _you_? Are you invited because you're ruining the event of the season and Caroline may have enough manners to not kick your ass out but my _husband_ and his _brother_ will have no problem escorting you away because this is a _private_ event!" Elena said in a rush as she folded her arms and glared up at Klaus who smiled down at her.

"You must be Elena Gilbert. Damon has told me so much about you," Klaus said, reaching out for Elena's hand which had dropped to her side as her jaw dropped with it at Klaus' use of her and Damon's names.

"_Who_ is he?" Elena asked Caroline again as Caroline gritted her teeth. She was about to speak when Klaus freakin' Mikaelson had to jump right in there.

Caroline rolled her eyes and folded her own arms over her chest. "I'm Klaus Mikaelson. I was your husband's roommate in college," Klaus said smoothly and Elena's eyebrows furrowed.

"That's funny. Damon _never_ mentioned you," Elena told Klaus suspiciously.

"You could say again," Tatia Gilbert said as she came to join their group with her arm linked through Katherine's who was eyeing Klaus up like he was prime rib, or a sale on Jimmy Choos. Shifting her weight to her other side, Caroline tried to keep the irritation that she felt when Katherine grinned at Klaus to herself. This was hell. Yes, she was in hell. "Where has Damon been hiding you? I thought he already introduced me to all his _single_ friends." Tatia said with a loud giggle.

'God, was Tatia drunk during her wedding?' Caroline thought, feeling disgusted as Rebekah and Bonnie came to join the group.

"Nik?" Rebekah gasped. "What are you doing here?"

Klaus shrugged. "I was in town on a bit of business, Bekah. Didn't know that an old friend's sister was getting married but I wanted to drop by and wish the girl the best of luck."

"You _should_ have told me that you were coming. Then you could have ridden with me and Stefan," Rebekah replied with a wide innocent smile. That was great, so it looked like the Mikaelson sister was still in the dark.

"I would have loved to but I had something I had to take care of first. That's why I was running a bit late," Klaus explained as Rebekah's eyes moved down to the papers in his hands.

"And what is _that_ about?" Rebekah asked. She was always too nosey for her own good.

"_Nothing_," Caroline said quickly.

Klaus began to chuckle when all the women in the group gave Caroline a look like she was losing it. And it was true. Caroline was losing it. Her dream day was beginning to unravel and she had been talking to Klaus for too long. Tyler was going to want to know what the hell was going on. Then Damon appeared. "Hey, you know that the National Weather Forecast just announced that there is a possibility of a thunderstorm any time now?" he told them almost gleefully.

Glaring at her older brother, Caroline tried to keep her cool as Damon stuffed his hands into his pants' pockets. "Then I guess we'll have to _hurry_ up then. Damon, can you show Klaus inside and I will _deal_ with him soon. I _have_ to get married now." Moving to walk around Klaus, Caroline was not shocked when Damon grabbed her by the waist and pulled her into a hug.

"You know that you can't do that, my darling little sister, unless you want to go to jail for _bigamy_," Damon muttered into her ear.

Forcing a smile as she caught sight of Tyler who was checking his phone, Caroline whispered back. "If you don't let go of me and stop adding to Klaus' bullshit charade you won't have to worry about getting Elena pregnant again because you will be missing the _essential_ parts to do so." Pushing Damon away lightly, Caroline moved to walk away again when she heard the sound of thunder overhead.

"Now, that seems like a _bad_ omen. And I don't believe in such things," Klaus informed everyone with another one of those smiles that Caroline used to find so charming back when she was his student. Now, she just found them to be another lie. That was all that Klaus was full of; lies. "Personally, I would never get married on a day like this. It would seem to be the beginning of _unfortunate_ events to come."

Whirling on her heel, Caroline moved so that she was an inch from Klaus' smug, smiling face. "If I wanted advice then I would call my lawyer, not some… some… Argh." Growling, Caroline could only seethe as Klaus shook his head slowly.

"You know, for a woman who's about to commit her life to another, you do not seem all that happy," Klaus murmured and that was it. Caroline was actually going to hit him. And then she could go to jail for assault and battery, but it would be totally worth it. As she doubled up her fist, she heard someone call her name.

"Caroline," Tyler called as he excused himself so that he could get through the gathering to his frustrated bride. "Caroline, _what's_ going on?"

Turning on her heel to look at Tyler, Caroline felt her body shake slightly. He did not deserve for her to not tell him what was going on. But how could she? "Hey, honey, you see I made a very big mistake by falling in love with my teacher, who was my older brother's college roommate. And I kind of married him. But then I divorced him because he wasn't who I thought he was and now he's here lying his ass off and telling this story about how we're still married because he's crazy. Possibly he's a stalker. Maybe we should call the police and have him deported. That sounds great, right? Then we can just not do this big wedding thing and hit City Hall so that when our marriage doesn't work then we can say we saved on expenses?"

There were too many thoughts going through Caroline's head when she finally spoke up. "Hi, Tyler, I am sooooo sorry. I don't know _what's_ going on. You see, this _guy_," Caroline waved at Klaus without looking at him, "is one of Damon's old friend's from college and he wanted to catch up with Damon and he told me that he mixed up the time of when the wedding was. _Right_, Klaus?" Caroline asked with a wide smile as she turned to stare at him with a hard look.

Klaus looked at his watch, with an amused expression. "Yes, it _does_ seem that I'm quite late. You see, I meant to show up about two hours ago but I suppose that Damon gave me the wrong directions."

"Did not," Damon argued with a glimmer in his eye when he looked at Klaus that made Caroline want to kick him. When this whole disaster of a day was over she would kick him and hard.

"Okay. But that doesn't really explain why you needed to talk to Caroline. I mean couldn't you have talked to Damon instead of interrupting the wedding?" Tyler asked Klaus with a frown. He didn't seem angry, just confused.

"Well, mate, that's the other problem. You see, Damon did not tell me that this was wedding wedding. He had me thinking that this was the wedding _rehearsal_. Of course when I saw how radiant the bride looked I should have known better. But you think funny things when you're on a plane for hours with small children crying because all they'll show is a film about an apocalypse," Klaus explained with his best apologetic look. Caroline was not buying his act for a moment. She just couldn't believe it when Tyler began to laugh like this actually funny.

This was their wedding day. Tyler should be pissed. He should be calling the police. Or ordering his friends from his old high school football days to manhandle Klaus out into the parking lot. He should be having Klaus tied to a chair with a roll of duct tape covering every square inch of his body. But, no. Hell no! He was laughing like Klaus was the funniest man that he'd ever met. Now, Caroline wanted to slap Tyler. Jackass. "Tyler," Caroline snapped with her hands on her hips when she heard another bolt of lightning overhead.

"Yeah, Care?" Tyler replied as he wiped tears that were rolling down his cheeks, away. He was grinning like as idiot and Caroline stopped herself from hitting him with her bouquet. Her feet were beginning to ache from wearing these instruments of beauty that felt like torture devices after a few hours.

"We need to hurry up," Caroline snapped at Tyler. "Damon said there's a storm coming."

"Correction, love, the storm is _here_," Klaus informed her and Caroline ignored him.

"Ty, you _do_ want to do this today, _don't_ you?" Caroline asked Tyler. Her heart began to pick up speed with every new word that left her mouth. Maybe Klaus was right. Maybe she shouldn't marry Tyler. Maybe all of these roadblocks were appearing for a reason and not just because Klaus was insane. Oh, God. Now, she was letting him get in her head. No, she would not allow him to invade her new life and destroy all the good she had created like he had with their marriage. That was never going to happen again. Straightening up to her full height, Caroline beamed at Tyler. "Because I am _soooo_ ready to be the next Mrs. Lockwood."

"There was a first?" Klaus joked and Tyler began to laugh again.

"Yeah, my mom," Tyler told Klaus. Damn Klaus for distracting Tyler from his duty today.

Reaching out, Caroline placed both of her hands on Tyler's face and forced him to look at her. "Hi, there. I'm going to you wife. Not _him_," Caroline nodded in Klaus' direction. "Now, I just need you to go back down that aisle before all of our guests walk out."

"Got ya," Tyler said with another laugh as he pressed a kiss to her forehead before walking back down the aisle at a leisurely pace. What? Did he think that he was at a freakin' park, taking a freakin' stroll? It was taking everything in Caroline to not scream at him to move his sorry ass.

"Elena, can you go apologize for the wait? And, Bonnie, can you find Mr. Mikaelson somewhere to sit. Preferably in the _back_ since he's had enough attention on _my_ day?" Caroline ordered her friends.

"Not a problem," Bonnie replied.

"Nonsense," Rebekah protested with a scowl. "Nik can sit with _me_. I promise I can make sure that he will behave. One of the wonders of being a sister is that you know all the dirty, little secrets that your brothers want to keep to themselves." Taking Klaus by the hand, Rebekah began to yank Klaus down the aisle. For a moment Caroline found herself smiling at the sister and brother. She wished she had had Rebekah around when she had been married to Klaus. Maybe things would have worked out differently. But they were what they were. There was no changing the past. There was only looking forward to the future.

As Katherine and Tatia reclaimed their seats, Caroline started to move to the end of the aisle when Damon slid his arm through hers. Looking up at her brother, Caroline felt surprised since he was not throwing her over his shoulder and trying to carry her away. "Damon?" she whispered.

"I think this _is_ a mistake, Care. But it's _your_ mistake to make. I guess. And I guess that I'll shell out the bail money when you get arrested," Damon quipped as they headed down the aisle, achingly slowly. Damon looked down at Caroline with a proud smile when they finally made it to the end of the aisle. "I love you, Caroline," he whispered into her ear as he hugged her and then placed her hand in Tyler's. "You hurt her and I will _end_ you," Damon informed Tyler, whose face drained of color as Damon patted him on the shoulder and then took a seat.

"Dearly beloved, we are gathered here today," the minster began to drone on as Caroline felt her mind begin to wonder. She closed her eyes for a second and saw Klaus. He had been so nervous waiting for her to show up at the little church. She had been just as nervous since she had no friends or family that would be with her during the event. But she had felt gleeful. Marrying Klaus was going to be the best decision of her entire life.

"Caroline, do you take Tyler to be your -" the minster began when there was a clap of thunder and everyone looked at the sky. The man looked at Caroline and she nodded for him to continue. "Caroline, do you take," this time he was cut off by another clap of thunder that lit up the sky and from the corner of her eye, Caroline saw people begin to get up and walk away.

"Caroline, are you sure that you want to do this _today_?" Tyler asked Caroline as he looked at the darkening sky. The wind was beginning to pick up, causing her skirt to whirl around her legs.

"YES!" Caroline shouted. "Hurry up," she ordered the minster only to have her words drift away as the minster held his hands up to say that he didn't hear her. Caroline growled. "Just get _on_ with it!" she screamed when the wind died down and Tyler's eyebrows rose as Caroline gave the minster a look full of murderous intent. "Just marry us before I tell everyone in town that you suck!" Caroline spat.

"Caroline, you're sounding like one of those bridezillas on TV," Tyler said with a laugh and Caroline turned her rage on him.

"Just… just shut up and marry me, you idiot," Caroline snarled at Tyler who frowned at her and opened his mouth when there was another burst of lightening. This time it hit a tree which fell and hit the house.

"Now, that looks like a sign from God that perhaps this is _not_ the right day to be married, Miss Forbes," the minster told Caroline who glared at him.

"Why don't you take your signs from God and," more lightening prevented the guests from hearing the rest of Caroline's words but they could guess from the look of horror that passed over the minster's face before he, too, began to hurry away from the couple. "Is there _anyone_ here who's ordained?" Caroline shouted to the guests who began to flee when fat rain drops began to descend and her dress flattened to her body as her mascara that was supposed to be waterproof ran down her face.

"I guess this just isn't our day?" Tyler said gently, when he went to wrap an arm around Caroline's shoulders, she shoved her bouquet into his chest. Taking a few step down the aisle, Caroline leaned down, took off her amazingly expensive shoes and sat them down. If someone else wanted them they were welcome to them. Unzipping her dress, she allowed it to pool around her feet before she stepped out of it. Walking into the house, Caroline found that her friends and their dates were roaming the halls and the living room.

Making her way into the kitchen, Caroline found Klaus making a pot of tea. "Hello, love. I told you that the thunder was a bad sign," he told her and Caroline stared up at him blankly for a long moment before blinking rapidly.

"Klaus, where are the papers?" Caroline asked him with an innocent look.

"Right here. Don't worry. They're still dry. Good as new really," Klaus informed her as she snatched them out of his hand.

"_Good_. Because tomorrow we're going to see _my_ lawyer who is going to prove that you're trying to commit fraud and then I'm going to sue the pants right off of you for what you pulled today," Caroline hissed as she searched Klaus' eyes for some kind of sign that he understood what she was saying. The smirk told her that he did not.

"You know, Caroline, if you want me out of my pants so very _desperately_, all you have to do is ask." Klaus replied, pressing his body closer to hers and she could feel his hot breath on her earlobe which made her entire body tremble. "In the meantime I suggest some tea and that you go upstairs and get out of those wet garments," he nodded at her slip that was showing her bra, panties garter belt and stockings. "Before you catch a cold."

Scoffing, Caroline shook her head as she backed away while the kettle let off steam. "The day that I need something from _you_ again will be a cold one in hell," she told Klaus before turning her back and walking away.

**Have a question or comment? Hit the review bow like crazy! I will see all of you lovely people next month! **

**Answers to reviews:**

**Jessinicole: Thank you. **

**Klaroline4everlove: There will clues to why Klaus and Caroline divorced and flashbacks that will tell the whole story but slowly. I know, I know. Move faster. ;)**

**Mysticbaker: And it's back. **

**MrsLeaMorgan: More. More. More and there will be oh, yes, more. **

**Guest: Thank you and shoulda. Woulda. Opps. To be continued…**

**Guest: Thank you bunchs. **

**NikMik: The reason that Caroline wanted Damon to walk her down the aisle is somewhat complicated but will become clear when I develop their relationship growing up. Thank you for reviewing. **

**Guest: Thank you. **

**Meruhime: Thank you. And now he did. All will be explained with time. **

**Laikaa: We will see in flashbacks and some conversation why Klaus and Caroline went their separate ways. Caroline does love Tyler. Whether she is in love with Tyler or was ever in love with Tyler is still a mystery and we will have to see how is unfolds. **

**Libra86: Thank you. **

**JuseaPeterson: All will be explained in the course of the story… **

**Goldenhumingbird: I did! Kind of. **

**Peace,**

**Jessica **


	3. Chapter 3

**Hello, my lovely readers. I know that this is a really hard time for we Klaroline fans, so I will be trying to update my K/C fics this month. I hope that you can excuse my slowness due to extreme writer's block. Hopefully I can get the next chapter of "The Klaroline Shipper's Game" up next week. **** On with the show…**

Chapter 3: Get Out of My Life

She was lying in her bed on what would have been her wedding night. Tyler was sound asleep as she stared at the ceiling trying to process what the hell had happened less than twenty-four hours ago. Who did Klaus think he was coming back into her life as if he had never left? As if he had never hurt and betrayed her. He had some nerve. And poor Tyler had unwittingly invited this wolf into his home to stay for the night since so many others had been stuck due to the storm that flooded the roads.

All that Tyler knew about Klaus was that he was British and an old friend of Damon's who had known Caroline briefly. Nothing more. Nothing less. That was their story and so far they were sticking to it. But what would happen when Klaus broke, and, damn him, he would. What then? There would be some questions that Caroline was unprepared to answer. How could she tell Tyler that she had been lying to him throughout their entire courtship and right up the aisle?

Sitting up, Caroline glanced at Tyler's chest moving up and down with his rhythmic breathing. Sighing deeply, she placed her feet inside her slippers and grabbed her robe off the back of the open closet door. If Tyler woke and asked her what she was up to she would lie and say she needed a glass of water.

Heading down the hall, Caroline placed her hand on the doorknob of the room that she knew Klaus was supposed to be inside to find it empty. Growling in frustration, she turned on her heel and collided with the man in question. "Looking for someone, love?" Klaus inquired into her ear, pressing her body back against the closed door. Feeling like screaming, Caroline narrowed her eyes when Klaus placed his hand beside her neck with his knee making inroads between her thighs.

"Stop. Now!" Caroline demanded, placing her hand on Klaus's chest.

"Why? You are my wife after all?" Klaus demanded. He didn't give her time to argue before he opened the door, backing Caroline into the room. Closing it firmly behind him, he smirked down at her.

"Open the door or I'll scream," Caroline ordered with her arms over her chest.

"I hope you do," Klaus replied, moving toward her.

Swearing under her breath, Caroline ran away from him. Climbing on top of the bed, she watched him coming toward her with a wide grin before she leapt off and made a run for the door. When his arms encircled her waist, Caroline began to punch and kick him. "Get off," she hissed. "Get off. Get off. You don't have the right to touch me anymore."

"I just want to talk to you," Klaus sighed against her shoulder.

"With you it's never just talk. You use your pretty words and once you have something you don't let it go," Caroline snapped. "But I'm not yours, not anymore. You gave up your rights to me long ago."

"So that means that you get to just run off with the first small town man that comes your way?" Klaus asked, turning Caroline to face him, he stroked her cheek before forcing her chin upward to meet his gaze. "He won't be enough for you, Caroline."

"You don't know that. After all, you weren't enough for me and you're not small town," Caroline shot back with venom in her voice. She could see that her words hit their mark when Klaus loosened his grip on her.

"If this is what you want, then why should I be the one to try to show you reason," Klaus uttered hoarsely and she could see that he was enraged.

"And you should know that I've known Tyler for a long time. He was my boyfriend before we met," Caroline continued. Her early words should have been enough. She was not sure why she was goading, why she suddenly felt the need to hurt him.

Glaring down at Caroline, Klaus took a step back. "Then by all means. Go back to him. Allow him to warm your bed, give you children, fill your days with prosperity and joy. You have my blessing."

"Not that I needed it," Caroline said as she headed back toward the door when Klaus grabbed her by the wrist and yanked her backward. "What are you doing?" she gasped when he threw her on the bed.

"Reminding you of what you'll be missing while you're with him," he uttered before pressing his lips to hers.

Caroline tried to stop him from kissing her but some part of her wasn't giving it her all. It was wrong. She was with Tyler. She was determined that she would marry Tyler. They would have a good life together. But maybe just for a little bit of time she could have Klaus again. Wrapping her arms and legs around her husband, she groaned as his lips moved from hers to trail down her neck, her chest and his hands lifted the bottom of her nightgown upward slowly. He was staring down at her now with such intensity that it made her shiver.

"Do you want this, Caroline? Do you truly want this? With me, love?" Klaus questioned her as she nodded. "I need you to say it," he murmured, caressing the backs of her thighs making her bite her bottom lip, hard.

"Yes, I want you. I want you now," Caroline moaned. Leaning forward, she reached for him to find empty air as Klaus moved stealthily away from her with a satisfied grin.

"And you can have me back anytime after you call off this sham of a marriage," Klaus declared gleefully before moving to the door. "If you'll excuse me. There is a poker game that Damon has set up that I have been missing for far too long. Hate for your brother to send out a search party and find you like this in my room. Now wouldn't we?"

Caroline felt mortified when Klaus shut the door with a "Sweet dreams, love," on his way out. Grabbing a pillow, she threw it at the door. Picking up another, she placed it over her mouth before she let out a loud scream. Oh, she would divorce his ass so fast he wouldn't know what hit him. Damn him.

After calming down, Caroline got to her feet and headed to her room when she ran into Elena who was holding a glass of orange juice.

"Hey, Care, what are you doing out here?" Elena asked sleepily.

"Oh, I couldn't sleep," Caroline said cheerfully.

"Uh huh. And didn't you just come out of that Klaus guy's room?" Elena asked.

Feeling her cheeks burn, Caroline forced a smile. "Yeah. I wanted to make up for the fact that we couldn't have the wedding without a little hide and go seek with Ty," she explained. "You know, since most of the guys are playing poker downstairs."

"Yeah," Elena said when Tyler poked his head into the hallway.

"Hey. I thought I heard voices. Caroline, why aren't you in bed, baby?" Tyler asked causing Elena to look more alertly at Caroline who felt like she really would scream.

""Cause I was waiting for you to find me," Caroline replied, clapping her hands together. "You know. I thought a frisky, little game might make you feel better after the day we had."

"Uh huh," Tyler nodded, running his hand through his hair.

Elena raised her empty hand offering the couple a strained smiled. "On that note I'm going back to bed. With earplugs."

When Elena disappeared into her room, Tyler yawned. "Okay. Well, did you still want to play that game?"

"I would but you look so exhausted," Caroline replied, placing her hand on Tyler's arm. "I think we should just go back to bed."

"Sounds good to me," Tyler muttered as he led Caroline back to their bed and pulled her to him. Closing her eyes, Caroline willed herself to not cry over a man who was not worth her tears. Tomorrow she would go find an attorney and make her life what it should be, not what it was. Tyler did not deserve to live a lie.

Unfortunately, the next morning came with another storm and more bad news. After flipping through a phone book looking for the best attorney that she could afford with her own money, Caroline found out that there was no way that she could get divorced in less than six months unless Klaus chose to not contest. That was the most ridiculous thing she had ever heard of. The worst part was that it might take up to a year. She could not hold onto this secret for a year.

Getting out of bed, Caroline headed downstairs because Tyler wasn't at home. He was out trying to check on how people were doing in their little town with Matt's help. Grabbing a bottle of champagne from the fridge, she carried it back upstairs and into her room. Sitting it down, she pulled out the cork and began to drink, straight from the bottle. Call her boozy.

After finishing off half the bottle, Caroline laid on her side and stared at the wall. Feeling tears pool in her eyes, she gave into self-pity and began to sob. Minutes later her door opened and her friends began to pour inside. "Caroline. We come bearing gifts to cheer you up," Katherine called with an equally cheery Tatia by her side. "But it looks like you got the party started without us."

"Hey, Care, what's wrong?" Bonnie asked, climbing on top of the bed and laying down beside Caroline.

"My life sucks," Caroline moaned.

"You're not part of my family, so I think it is safe to say that your life could be much, much worse," Rebekah said giddily. "Although I might be part of yours soon."

"Oh, do tell," Katherine said, sitting down beside Caroline and picking up the luke warm champagne bottle with distaste before handing it to Tatia who scowled.

"We do love gossip," Tatia added with a giggle. She hated to be outdone by her sister whereas Elena was rolling her eyes.

"Lena, sit down," Caroline ordered, drying her eyes.

Bonnie began to massage Caroline's shoulders while Katherine opened the box of chocolates she had brought for the almost bride and began to eat them. Rebekah drew in a deep breath with a huge smile on her face. "Well, last night I was searching through Stefan's pants -" she began to say when Katherine choked on her chocolate. Caroline gave her a sound slap on the back.

"Thank you," Katherine said, looking at the piece of chocolate that had come out and was now lying in her hand. "Were the pants on? Or off?" she asked while placing the chocolate in Tatia's hand who had not been paying attention and groaned at the sight.

"As I was saying," Rebekah snapped, trying to not lose her two minutes of the whole group's attention. "I found a receipt in Stefan's pants' pocket from Tiffany's." Looking triumphant, Rebekah waited for the girls to begin congratulating her but when they did not she glowered at them. "So…"

"And?" Katherine rolled her eyes with a bored expression. "If I could count on my hands and toes how many times I found a receipt from a jewelry store in a man's pocket I would be blue in the face. It does not guarantee anything. Men are pigs. He probably bought something for his other girlfriend. Me." Grinning, Katherine moved out of Rebekah's reach when Rebekah tried to reach out to strangle her.

"Rebekah, Kat can't help being a mean bitch," Elena reminded Rebekah who looked flustered as she combed her hands through her hair.

"Oh, I see the hormones are raging again. When did you say you would be having those babies? Tomorrow?" Katherine inquired.

"I'm not due for three and a half months," Elena spat at her sister.

Katherine grinned maliciously. "Well, it's a good thing that Damon didn't marry you for your looks," she said. Now it was Rebekah's turn to restrain Elena who looked like she would kill her sister.

"Mornin,' ladies. How are we today?" Klaus asked from the doorway and Caroline felt a lump form in her throat.

"We're wonderful. Thank you for asking," Katherine replied. Getting to her feet she sashayed up to him and placed a hand on his chest. "And how did you enjoy your room last night? Was there anything that you felt was missing? Perhaps something warm and soft?"

Feeling her fists clench at her sides, Caroline had to remind herself that Katherine didn't know that Klaus was hers. No, Klaus was not hers. Technically he wasn't. Or he was. Until their divorce was finalized he was still hers.

"Actually, I prefer to sleep when I know that I won't be woken by another's snores," Klaus replied causing Katherine to let out a startled laugh.

"I'm sure what I was thinking of wouldn't," Kat tried with another come hither smile.

"I'm sure I don't care," Klaus replied with a grin. "Now, I hear that the roads are still not clear so that many of us may not be able to leave but my good friend, Damon is down in the kitchen whippping up a delightful brunch and he sent me to collect you lot. Come along. Don't feel shy. Unless of course you plan on drinking lunch," he added, eying the bottle that Tatia was still holding.

"This isn't mine," Tatia said setting the bottle on the nightstand.

"Of course it's not," Klaus replied with sarcasm lacing his tone. "Hurry before Damon gets testy and throws it in the trash. An angry cook is not something to be trifled with."

Getting off the bed, Caroline was forced to walk by Klaus who was the last to leave. When she walked past him, he placed his hand on her ass making her yelp. Everyone else turned to give her curious look. "Sorry. I had a cramp… in my butt."

Katherine began to laugh loudly as Bonnie sighed and smiled. Tatia was eating a piece of chocolate from the box that Katherine had shoved into her chest. And Elena was shooting daggers in Klaus' direction who was the picture of innocence while Rebekah walked ahead of them. "God, I am starving. I feel like I haven't eaten in a month."

"You ate five pancakes and half the fruit bowl, sister," Klaus called to Rebekah who scoffed.

"You're mistaking me for Kol," Rebekah retorted.

"Now why would I do that?" Klaus inquired as Rebekah waved him off.

Walking down the long hallway, Caroline had to keep fending off Klaus' roaming hands. On the staircase she resisted the urge to shove him down them and claim that his death was an accident. The only thing that stopped her was that Elena was ahead of them and Damon would kill her if she made his wife into the cushion for his soon-to-be ex-brother-in-law's fall.

"Would you keep your hands to yourself," Caroline hissed when they were right outside the dining room door.

"Only if you promise to take up where I left off," Klaus replied with a grin that made her see red.

"Oh, you think you're funny, Klaus Mikaelson. You just wait," Caroline snarled as she entered the dining room all smiles. Sitting beside an empty seat she expected Damon to sit in, she found Klaus claiming the spot. Not wanting to draw attention to herself by making a fuss, she continued to smile even after Klaus placed his hand on her inner thigh and moved ever quickly upward.

Placing her hand under the table, she removed his hand like it was a contagion and placed it back on his own thigh as Damon came out with their lunch. "I hope you all like lasagna. That seems to be all Elena is craving right now," Damon announced.

"Not the only thing. And I can say this as the guy who was stuck sharing a room with those two last night," Stefan joked to which the group began to laugh.

"Stefan, that is not proper talk to have at the dining table. Mind your manners," Damon reminded his brother. "Besides, he's just jealous because he wasn't allowed to stay in the girls' room with little Bekah."

"I am not little," Rebekah complained. "I am a grown woman."

"WE might all be able to attest to the not being little part," Kol added with a grin.

"Kol," Elijah admonished while Rebekah stuck her tongue out.

Klaus placed his hand on Caroline's leg the moment they had been served and Damon was seated. "How is everyone liking their meal?" Damon inquired as Caroline began to moan around a fork full. "Is it that good, Care?" he asked with a happy smile.

"Yes," Caroline said a little too loudly. "Oh, yes… it's very. Ummm… very good. Thank you!" The last word went up an octave higher than she meant for it to but Klaus was making it hard for her not react. Damn him. "Could I get a glass of water?"

"Sure," Damon said as Caroline forced herself to eat and to not stab Klaus with her fork as he continued his work beneath the table.

"I wish I felt that way about Damon's cooking," Kol muttered.

When Damon handed Caroline her water, she took a sip before sitting it down on the edge of the table. Taking a moment, she moved her arm, shoving the glass so that it spilled all over Klaus' pants. Let him explain his problem to the table after his attempted humiliation.

"Oh, my. Let me help you with that," Katherine said, moving so swiftly you would think she was at a sale on Prada." Dropping to her knees she began to wipe at Klaus' pants.

Kol began to chuckle at Katherine's antics while Klaus jumped around, trying to keep her hands away from her target areas. Caroline smirked before reaching for the bottle of wine that was sitting in the middle of the table. "Sorry about that. I suppose I'm a klutz," she told the group as Klaus got to his feet with the napkin draped over his lower parts. If he wanted war then she would give it to him.

**Thank you for reading, faving, following and/or reviewing, Hopefully, it will not take me half as long to send you all the next update. **

**Answers to reviews: **

**MrsLeaMorgan: I know, there has to be an act of nature to stop Caroline when she sets her mind to something. I love writing Klaus in this fic; he's very stubborn and is determined to win Caroline's heart, once and for all. **

**Klaroline4everlove: Yes, the weather definitely had other plans for that day. I really wanted to keep that part of Caroline's character that when she sets her mind to something that she won't stop till she gets it. **

**Libra86: Thank you and I should be getting to some flashbacks in probably chapter five if not sooner. This story is a really slow burn so we'll see little teeny bits of their past that build into a large picture. **

**Guest: Now! Sorry for the delay. :o**

**NikMik: We should begin to see more of Klaus and Caroline, the early years, sometime in chapter five and so forth. **

**Ummm… thanks for mentioning the family dynamic between D, S and C. I should focus more on that somewhere in the next chapter or two… **

**Neither Elena nor Tyler knew about Klaus and Caroline's past and almost everyone else in the group including Rebekah and Kol. **

**I hope you liked the chapter. **

**Tippy093: I am looking forward to writing the background for this couple. **

**Binga: Thank you and here it is. **

**JuseaPeterson: It was more of a misunderstanding that drove Klaus and Caroline apart and that is as close to a spoiler as I am willing to reveal at this point and time. Klaus is, indeed, telling the truth. **

**EmeraldEyedCat: I used to ship Forwood until Klaroline ruined me forever so when I write about them there is a sort of nostalgic twinge for the "good old days." And used to love the dynamic when Klaus, Tyler and Caroline would get into an argument; there weren't enough of those scenes. Yes, I think that I could have Bekah say that to Stef in MFDC, a thousand years from now when I get to book three. There is not enough Klamon friendship. I used to drool over Damon and Klaus scenes. I still want Ian to join the cast of TO because New Orleans is the land of a villains and it only make sense. Then we could finally see Team Klamon, the epic friendmance, hopefully with Marcel thrown in. I like the idea of this Elena being the adult version of Elena in MFDC. **** God, I miss Liz so much and in Damon and Liz' last scene I was like "She's like his surrogate mommy. No, I'm going to cry now! Ahhhh!" I haven't seen "Game of Thrones" but I did watch "The Borgias" and I totally shipped Lucrezia with Ceseare which is so wrong… I think that Damon is Team Caroline and wants to see her happy due to a) guilt for their relationship and b) because they're so much alike and he just wants her to find her own happy ending. **

**Thank you for the high compliment. **

** : And it is finally up. Sorry about the wait. **

**Peace, **

**Jessica **


	4. Chapter 4

**Special note: Hello, my lovely readers, I am so sorry about how long it took to update this fic. I was writing my first novel, **_**On**__**Being**__**a**__**First**__**Mistress**_**, and I would love it if you would check it out. If you would like to review the book, let me know in a review or PM and I will tell you when you can get a free copy. Now, it's time for a Klaroline heavy chap! On with the show…**

Chapter 4: Life in Not a Fairy Tale

Caroline Salvatore grew up believing in fairy tales. She knew that one day her prince would ride in on a white horse to sweep her into his arms and they would ride off into the sunset. There was nothing in the world that she believed to be more true about the world than that dream. And love. Love was the thread that held it all together. But sometimes love and fairy tales fail to meet our expectations, so we have to make our own.

Lying on the couch in the Lockwood mansion, Caroline was happy that everyone had decided to have an impromptu party. Ordinarily, Caroline would be center stage, holding court with Tyler at her right hand. However, Caroline was not in the mood to party. All she wanted to do was lie on this couch and take a nap. Feeling herself begin to drift, she felt startled when someone laid a blanket over her.

Sitting straight up, Caroline glared at the intruder in her personal space, smirking down at her. "Hello, love. Thought you might be hiding from your friends. You never were one to be able to keep _anything_ a secret for long, and I know that mouth of yours; they'll all know about our marriage by the end of the day," he stated with his usual arrogance.

"Actually, I was trying to take a nap because Tyler should be home _soon_ and I want to be well rested for _our_ plans for tonight," Caroline retorted. Shoving the blanket to the floor, she got to her feet and smoothed out the pleats in her dress, ignoring the way that Klaus' eyes roved over her figure. He always did that. "Now, if you will excuse me, I'm going to find my bed."

Turning her back on him, Caroline made her way from the massive living area, to the foyer and up the stairs, without breaking into a run or tearing up or slapping Klaus across his smug face. All these things were little achievements that Caroline could clap herself on the back for. She would not give into him, in any way. That was what had started this whole mess, years ago, and she wou;d be damned if she would let him get what he had come for.

Entering her bedroom that she shared with Tyler, Caroline whirled on her heel and closed the door. After a second of thought, she locked it, just in case Klaus got it into his head that coming in here, uninvited, again, would be a good idea. Slipping between the satin sheets, Caroline felt her entire body relax into the fabric and forbidden thoughts began to enter her mind while wakefulness abandoned her.

"_Miss Salvatore, your technique is improving," Klaus had said as he passed by her. Caroline grinned, she loved it when he complimented her in front of the entire class. Niklaus Mikaelson was not known for doling out compliments. He was known for having made many an aspiring artist run, sobbing from his class. That was why Caroline had been nervous about meeting the infamous roommate of her older brother, Damon. _

_They had met briefly when Damon had brought Nik home, when the boys were on holiday from college. Klaus had been four years older than Caroline and she could not stop staring at the twenty year old who had barely given her a second glance. Of course, he admitted later that was because Damon had warned him that if he so much as asked Caroline what time it was, he would beat him senseless. _

_Three years later, Caroline was taking classes in London as an exchange student for a year. And the first class she decided she wanted to take was with her brother's old friend, Nik's, who had been quite successful since graduating with his degree in Fine Art. Klaus' works were being shown in Paris, Milan and London at the time that Caroline registered to take his class and she had only been permitted to take the class because she asked Klaus to let her in. _

_Caroline had tapped on Klaus' door, feeling nervous while standing outside the locked office door. His office hours had said he was in, the secretary for the department had said he was in, but was he, really, behind that door. Hearing a frustrated growl from within, Caroline had sucked in a deep breath, "Yes?" a voice called, without opening the door. _

"_Mr. Mikaelson?" Caroline replied. _

"_Yes!" he snapped and then the door flew open, to reveal an angry looking Klaus with a streak of coal across his right check. His hair was an unruly mess from where he had obviously been running his hands through it and his cheeks were flushed with blood. "Yes, who are you and what do you want?" he snarled impatiently. _

"_I…" Caroline, for once, was at a loss for words. "I…" she began again and since she could not make her mouth work, she waved the piece of paper that he would need to sign to allow her into the class. _

"_What?" Klaus shook his head with a look incomprehension before he snatched the paper away and gave it a derisive sneer. "I have enough people signed up for that class at the moment, Miss… whoever you are," he handed her back the piece of paper and then slammed the door in her face. _

_Blinking back frustrated tears, Caroline shouldered her messenger bag and started to walk away. For a moment, she felt lost in the sea that attending college could feel like at times, buoyed to and fro by the waves and beaten against the current. Then it occurred to her that Klaus was supposed to be a teacher and he had NO right to talk to her in that manner. _

_Whirling on her heel, Caroline strode back to the door and began to hammer on it. "Nik!" she yelled with her game face in place. Oh, no! He was not getting off the hook this easily. _

_When Klaus finally yanked the door, he leaned outward placing, his face a half an inch from hers. "This had better be good!" he snarled. _

"_Yeah, it is," Caroline snarled back before she shouldered her way past him and entered his office. Dropping her bag into a chair in front of his desk, she plopped down on his desk, ignoring the paper she had sat on. "You're a teacher. And I am a student. It is your job to encourage students, not to yell at them because they stop by your office, during your office hours," she told Klaus who only stood by the door, his eyes wide and his hand turning purple from the lethal grip he had on the handle. _

"_I have to have office hours; it's departmental policy. And as a member of the arts department, I have every right to pick and choose who I want to join my classes," Klaus replied slowly. Closing the door, he made his way over to Caroline; she gulped when he stopped in front of her and then leaned over so that they were almost touching. "I will let you into my class if you can tell me who created this work," he informed her, still leaning over her, with a book in hand. _

_Caroline took the book and stared at the marble sculpture. She honestly had no idea who the author of this work was. Biting at her lower lip, Caroline tried not to allow the feel of Klaus' hot breath on her cheek to unnerve her. She could always guess. She had always been a good guesser. "Ummm… Michelangelo," she said, quietly, looking up and searching Klaus' eyes. _

"_Wrong. It was St. Mark by Donatello," Klaus shook his head and took the book away from her, but he did not move a single inch. "So, tell me, sweetheart, who told you to take my class? Did they tell you that I reward pretty faces? That I'm an easy A? Hmmm. Confess for me. It's good for your soul," he murmured, taking the tiny silver cross that Damon had given her when she was thirteen, toying with it between his fingers. "Because I can assure you, they were wrong." _

"_I don't want to take your class because of my GPA. I'm doing REALLY well in all of my classes. But I like art and I like to challenge myself," Caroline told Klaus before pulling her cross away from him, allowing it to drop back onto her chest, where it belonged. _

"_Oh, really? You only fancy art? You don't love it. Because if I were to go against my better judgment and allow you to take my class, I would expect that by the end you would have fallen in love with… art," he added the last bit with a wicked grin while Caroline licked her lips. _

"_Yeah. Art. I'm sure I would fall in love with… art. It's just awesome. Really. Just… Ummm… Yeah," Caroline wanted to yank Klaus on top of her and have wild sex on top of his desk top, but she knew she shouldn't go there. He was, after all, a friend of her brother's. And how awkward would it be if they had an affair and it didn't work out. "So, you'll sign my slip of paper?"_

"_I suppose that I will. Again, against my better judgment. Perhaps you will surprise me, or I you," Klaus muttered while he took her paper and grabbed a pen from a cup that proclaimed him to be "The World's Best Art Professor." _

_When he was done, Klaus handed the paper back to Caroline and finally moved, so that she could leave his office. "I look forward to our next meeting, Miss…?"_

"_Caroline," Caroline told him with a wide grin. "Caroline Salvatore. And it's good to see you again, Nik," she told him, patting him on the arm and then exiting the office, feeling pleased since she had had seen the way that his eyes had rounded at her name before she left. Yup. She was going to surprise him alright. And he her. _

_At the moment, she was sitting in the back of his class, sketching slowly, trying to get a feel for the curves of the model that was standing before them. Caroline wondered if she would ever have the nerve to stand in front of anyone, exposed as the woman who stood before them. There was a beauty to the human body that fascinated Caroline. The unfortunate part was her desire to sketch the nude form of the man who walked amongst her fellow students. _

_Biting the end of her pencil, Caroline tried to concentrate on the model, but her eyes kept trailing to her professor, her tongue poking out to lick her lips as she examined him. None of her fellow students were paying any attention to her; they were all focused on the model, so they wouldn't notice her. She hoped. Flipping to a blank page in her sketch book, she began a rough outline of Klaus's form, starting with his curls which stood up in places and dipped over his eyebrows. _

_So intent on her sketch, Caroline did not notice when Klaus appeared behind her, until she noticed a shadow falling across the paper, killing her only source of natural light, coming from the window to her left. "Excuse me," she began to say quietly so that she wouldn't disrupt the other students' work, when she looked up to find Klaus. "Oh, God," she moaned. _

_Caroline tried to close her sketch pad, but Klaus was too fast for her. He grabbed the pad with one hand and grinned as he examined her work. "Ah, the human form. Fascinating in its sheer complexity. But, Miss Salvatore, today's assignment is to draw the model," he stated with a smirk before he flipped her pad back to the page she had been on when she became distracted. "Stay on task," he ordered. _

_Feeling her cheeks turn crimson, Caroline looked around and was relieved that her fellow students weren't paying attention to her. They were still focused on the assignment. Biting her lower lip, she looked toward the model and forced herself to draw. _

_When the class was over, Caroline was one of the last people to leave. She could still feel the previous embarrassment making her cheeks flame as Klaus said his good-byes to the model and to the last of the students who were trickling out the door. "Miss Salvatore, a word, please?" he called and her head swung upward, hitting the desk. _

_This was not her day. Getting to her feet, Caroline was waiting for Klaus to say something snarky about her period of distraction in class when she came to stand before his desk. He was sitting on top of it with a sketch pad of his own in hand. "I have something I would like you to see," he said, holding out the pad to her. _

_Caroline's eyebrows rose. Klaus had never held her after class and he had never offered to let her see his work that was not hanging in an art gallery. "Okay." She had no idea what to except when she opened the pad. Blinking, she felt her jaw drop. He had drawn her while she was in his class, no less. "How?" she couldn't think of the right questions to ask while she stared at the page. She had worn the dress in the portrait the week before. _

"_My students become so focused on whichever assignment they're given, even if it is a bowl of fruit, that I have time to draw. And last week, when you were sitting in the sunlight, staring at that banana, like it held the secrets to the universe, I could not help myself. You were luminous and I had to capture you in that moment. As you seemed so unable to stop the compulsion to draw me in the nude, although I was fully clothed." Klaus finished his speech and then began to laugh at her look of horror. "I understand. I'm a handsome a devil." _

"_No," Caroline gasped. "I mean. Yes, you are, handsome, attractive, sexy. Oh, my God. I need to stop talking," Caroline felt her cheeks flushing scarlet. She could never come back to this class, never, NEVER again. She would never live this down. _

"_The lesson is, that we are moved by our muses as I was moved by you last week, you were moved by me this one. We can not control where our muse takes us, so you have nothing to feel embarrassed about," Klaus reassured her and Caroline let out a relieved laugh. "Although I would suggest that you do not make a habit of sketching me in that manner, in class," he warned. "You can always ask me outside of it, and I will be more than happy to pose for you."_

_Her eyes snapped up to stare into Klaus'. Did he just suggest what she thought he suggested? she wondered, her heart pounding in her chest. From the serious look on his face, Caroline could swear that he not joking. Klaus Mikaelson was flirting with her. _

"_Alright. That would be…" Caroline tried to find the right words for what to say to his offer. He was technically her teacher. And he was her brother's friend. Very good friend. Searching the other parts of the room for the right answer, Caroline could not think of one when she felt a hand touch her cheek. _

_Focusing on Klaus, Caroline felt her lips part when he drew her face to his, pressing his lips to hers, working his tongue slowly inward as she opened her mouth to allow him entry. She slid her hands into his hair, pulling him closer to her. She felt his arm loop around her back and then suddenly swinging their positions around so that she was pressed against the desk and then was lying atop it. She let out a moan as Klaus pulled her legs around his waist. This was so wrong, but it felt all kinds of right. He was her prince, saving her from boredom and mediocrity. _

_Suddenly, Klaus straightened up and Caroline could only stare at him. What was wrong? Why had he stopped? she wondered, fearing he did not want her. "And this is a discussion that we will have to continue at a later date, because I am late to a departmental meeting. Sorry, love, but, trust me, it will be worth the wait," he muttered into her ear, placing his hand on her ass and pressing her to him so she would know how much he would rather be there, with her. _

"_Okay," Caroline murmured, combing her hands through her hair and trying to calm down. She grabbed her bag which she had dropped when Klaus had grabbed her and kissed her. "I'll see you later," she said, trying to be cool about this when she headed toward the door. She only made it two inches when Klaus grabbed her hand. _

"_What's five more minutes?" Klaus asked her and she knew he wasn't looking for an answer when he hauled her off her feet and she swung her heels around his waist, giggling. "They can bloody well wait for me…" _

Groaning in her sleep, Caroline rolled onto her back, opening her legs and gripping the bed sheets. Something about the beginning of an affair can make you come alive and the beginning of her affair with Klaus had scorched the rest of her life with its heat. That had been the beginning of her love story, of when she thought she had met Prince Charming, of when she thought she could have everything.

The sun was going down and only the vaguest hints of light were penetrating her bedroom when Caroline got to her feet and unlocked the door. She made her way down to the foyer and into the living area. No one was there. Rubbing her eyes, she kept walking through the halls until she found that everyone was still in the massive ball room. Some were dancing and some were eating dinner, or what passed for dinner.

"Did you have a _nice_ nap?" Klaus asked as he came to stand beside her.

"Can we talk?" Caroline asked, looking up at him for the first time in a long time and not feeling the desire to rip his heart out of his chest.

"Yes," Klaus replied with a smile. She led him out of the ball room and into a small office. Crossing the floor, she sat on top of the desk.

"Lock the door," Caroline ordered.

Klaus' eyebrows shot upward. "Ah, so we're going to have _that_ type of chat, are we? Clothing optional, I hope," he teased, obeying her command.

Scoffing, Caroline crossed her legs at the knee. "Read my lips. Not going to happen, Klaus!"

"Not going to happen, again, but it always does. You've never been able to resist me for long, love. Why fight it when you know that it is inevitable?" Klaus questioned her, coming to stand before her and placing a hand on her knee. He pushed her legs apart and then pulled them around his waist.

"You know, you can't have _everything_ you want!" Caroline snapped, attempting to push him away and failing, miserably.

"But you _want_ me, too. Otherwise, you would have told Tyler and told me to get the hell out of your life," Klaus argued, yanking Caroline's body against his and diving for her open mouth.

"First of all, I haven't told Tyler because he's a _nice_ person and I'm trying to find the _right_ time to tell him. Number two, I _did_ tell you to get the hell out of my life, _several_ times!" she growled, giving him another shove.

"Yes, you did. But _not_ like you meant it. Now, stop being a tease and let me kiss you. You are my wife after all," Klaus ordered, grabbing Caroline's face as she tried to resist him and kissing her gently until she opened her mouth and then he was pressing her flat atop the desk. It still felt the same, his hands, his tongue, her love for him. But if he thought he had won the battle, he had no idea what the war would be like.

**Thank you for reading, faving, following and reviewing. **

**All answers to reviewers with accounts will be PMed to them from now on. **

**Answers to guest reviews: **

**Guest: Thank you. **

**Guest: Sorry about the longish A/N at the top, I'm trying to get people interested in my novel. **

**Heather: It's a super fun story to write. I hope you enjoy this chapter. **

**Peace,**

**Jessica**


	5. Chapter 5

**Hello, my lovely readers. Sorry about taking so long to update. This is part of my 32 updates before my birthday on November 27****th****. On with the show. **

Chapter 5: Always the Bride

Rain pattered against the windows. The water sliding down like tears bathing the glass with misery. Caroline sat across from Klaus in the living room. No one sat with them. Most of the guests had left in the hours when the rain had stopped and the roads cleared. But Klaus refused to leave just yet. His gaze was unwelcome, searching Caroline's sober look for answers.

"Love?" Klaus' voice called to her.

Caroline's eyes flicked to him. She felt the onset of an illness coming to her. Hot and cold. Stomach twisting in knots. Leaving him had been one of the best decisions of her life. Preservation of her heart and mind. And now he wanted back in. Into her life. Into her heart. Into her body. Like she could forget everything he did to break her heart.

"Yes, Klaus?" Caroline said coolly.

"I thought we were coming to an agreement. That you would give us a chance. Allow me to remind you of how things were," Klaus replied. Getting up, he knelt before her on bended knee, taking her hand in his, searching her eyes.

Turning her head on him, Caroline refused to allow him to manipulate her. Enough had become enough. "Klaus, you've over stayed your welcome in my home. Now, kindly, leave," she snapped, staring at the rug a foot from him.

"No," Klaus shook his head.

"Klaus, just stop it!" Caroline yelled, getting to her feet. She was trying to be reasonable when he wasn't capable of reason. "Just go! I don't want you here! Okay? I don't want this!" She waved between them.

Klaus' face darkened, his jaw ticking before his expression closed off. "As you wish," he spat before striding toward the stairs.

Caroline felt relieved but tears filled her eyes and began to run down her cheeks. She remembered the last time she told him to leave. It felt like a lifetime ago. However, the pain was still there. Like it happened yesterday.

"_Klaus, get out!" Caroline screamed in fury. She picked up a pillow from their bed and flung it at him. _

_Klaus easily dodged the pillow. He moved toward her, trying to reach her when she picked up the crystal lamp on her nightstand and heaved it at him. He side-stepped it and it sprayed glass across the floor, tiny pieces all over the Oriental rug. "Caroline!" he bellowed, face contorting as Caroline's shoulders shook and she looked for something else to throw at him. "Stop this madness!" he shouted, moving so quickly that she couldn't escape his clutches. _

"_Klaus, don't touch me! Don't you ever touch me again!" Caroline screamed in his face, body thrashing as she kicked and punched at him, her face scrunching, burning as images came into her mind unbidden. _

_Arms lying on sheets. Legs twisted in the soft blue fabric that she had posed for her husband on. Long locks of hair pooling over their pillows. Thiers! A blue eye popping open. "Nik!" a feminine voice called out, head lifting from the pillows as Caroline stood in the doorway, her body shaking as she turned and ran, ran as fast and as far as she could. _

"_Caroline!" Klaus shouted, holding her to him while she struggled against him. "Caroline! Caroline! Stop! Please! Love! What did I do?" His voice pleading with her. Every word drove a sharp stake through her heart. _

"_Get off of me!" Caroline screamed into his ear, trying to free herself. "Get off. I hate you!" she seethed, her body losing its strength, her legs slumping beneath her. "I hate you so much!" she gasped, tears still running down her cheeks. _

"_Caroline? What did I do?" Klaus muttered into her hair, moving her face so she had to look at him. _

_Caroline let out a sob. "You cheated on me," she moaned. _

"_What?" Klaus shook his head frantically. "No. Caroline, sweetheart, whatever you saw, whatever you think you saw, it's not the truth. I would never cheat on you. You are my life!" _

_Shaking her head, Caroline continued to sob, now clutching at fistfuls of his shirt. She wanted to believe him. She wanted desperately to believe him. But she saw the woman with her own eyes. She saw her in their bed, between their sheets in the home that only they had keys to. Only they knew of. It was their secret home. The place where they ate, laughed, danced, drank champagne, talked of the future after she finished school and when they would gather their families together and announce their official engagement. _

_But Klaus had ruined it all. For what? Who was she anyway? Another student? An old girlfriend? A stranger? Why had he welcomed this woman into their bed? Why had he burned their happy home to the ground? _

"_Caroline, please, I have no idea what you're talking about," Klaus whispered, drawing her attention to his lips. The words sounded so true. His sincerity stood out to her. She had heard him lie. And she had heard him tell the truth. It sounded like the truth. But what if she just wanted it to be the truth? What if she found herself in the middle of a lie that became larger and larger until she no longer remembered what the truth looked like? _

"_Klaus, please, leave," Caroline whispered, sliding to the floor and wrapping her arms around her legs. "If you ever cared about me or have any respect for me, you will leave me and let me figure this out on my own," she said, staring at her knees. _

"_Caroline, don't do this to us, love," Klaus said, getting on his knees and lifting her face to look at him. "Don't push me away. I swear on my love for you, I did not, I would not cheat on you." _

"_I don't know what's true anymore, Klaus," Caroline replied slowly, shaking her head. _

_Settling on his heels, Klaus let go of her. His face closed off and then he got to his feet. "If you wish me out of your life, so be it," he said coldly and then walked away from her. _

_Instinct sent her to her feet. She hurried down the stairs and jerked the doorknob when the front door slammed shut behind Klaus. He hadn't even gathered his things. Her heart hurt as she slid to the bottom stair. What if she was wrong? _

Klaus came downstairs with a bag. "Good-bye, Caroline," he said, moving toward the door.

Crossing her arms over her chest, Caroline refused to crumble this time. The old Caroline had loved Klaus more than she loved herself. But she had grown stronger since their breakup. She could watch him leave. If he never came back, that would be okay, too. It would be better. She could get on with her life. Have her perfect wedding. Live her life with Tyler, have a baby and be happy.

Pausing in the doorway, Klaus dropped his bag and strode toward her. He looped an arm around her waist, yanking her to him and kissed her, making her head spin and her legs muscles loosen so she fell into him. "Thought I'd get one last kiss before I leave you to your small town life," he told her, pressing his forehead to hers.

Caroline felt like slapping him but she slid her fingers into his curls and yanked his mouth back to hers. She hated him so much. This was so wrong. And still. Still. She wanted him. His tongue moved into her mouth and Caroline groaned. "Good-bye, Klaus," she said firmly, pulling away from him. Turning her back on him, she headed up the stairs, moving her hips, knowing he was watching.

Stopping at the head of the staircase, Caroline looked down at Klaus, her lips pursed when he moved up them, three at a time to catch up with her. She inhaled deeply as she headed into the guest room that he had been staying in and then waited. He followed her inside, slamming the door behind him. Her breath caught in her chest as she backed up toward the bed and he came toward her. "This is the last time. And then you're going to leave. And you're not going to come back. You're going to let me live my life," she told him as he smirked at her.

"Whatever you want, sweetheart," Klaus replied slowly with a glint in his eye and then he was on top of her. Caroline groaned as he pressed his lips to her neck and she moved to his belt, yanking it off and then unbuttoning his pants. She did not want to cheat on Tyler. Technically speaking she had been cheating on Tyler with Klaus since they were still married, she thought. Maybe not. If this would get Klaus out of their lives for good, she would throw herself on the sword every time.

Three hours later, Caroline lay gasping on top of Klaus and looked down at him. Of course, he looked like the smug jerk he always looked like. "I hope you enjoyed yourself, because we are done here," Caroline told him.

Klaus smirked up at her, wrapping a hand around the back of her neck, pulling her lips down to meet his. "If you truly believe that, darling, you are delusional."

"I mean it, Klaus, this was good-bye. This. This was closure sex." Caroline moved to get off of Klaus but he grabbed her thighs, holding her in place.

"We would need to have a year's worth of sex to have 'closure sex.'" Klaus murmured. "And I'm feeling the need for further closure," he told her, rolling her onto her back.

"No!" Caroline snapped. "That's it. No more closure," she smacked his bare chest as he slid his hand up her inner thigh.

"Oh, Caroline, love, let's be done with these silly games. You're not marrying that Lockwood boy. Otherwise you would not have opened your legs to me. Deny it all you want, sweetheart, but your heart and other bits want to be with me." Caroline wanted to argue as his fingers slid in and out, making her moan.

Fine. If she had to keep going until he capitulated then she would. "I prefer to be on top," she reminded him. Klaus grinned, rolling her on top of him.

"Don't I know it," Klaus growled, his hand moving into her tangled locks and jerking her lips to his.

"Caroline. I'm leaving," Klaus said and Caroline felt startled. She blinked at him, realizing that really good sex that they had been having minutes ago was all in her head.

The look on his face made her heart break all over again. "I'll be in town. And I'm not giving up on us," he told her before unlocking the door and then closing it behind him.

Caroline felt her bottom lip tremble. She would not cry. She would not allow herself to cry. Not again. When a knock on the door sounded at the front door, Caroline got to her feet, moving quickly toward it. She yanked it open in the hopes that Klaus had changed his mind and decided not to leave.

"Care, you look sad," Katherine said, pouting at her before entering the house. "I forgot my… underwear," she stated with a triumphant grin. "Can I go up and look for them?"

"Sure," Caroline replied. She shrugged and went back to sit down.

After several long minutes, Katherine made her way back downstairs. "Looks like everyone left. And I was hoping to run into Klaus. Do you have his phone number?"

Katherine was always so tactful in her pursuit of men. "No." Caroline shook her head. "Ask Damon."

"Ugh. No. I'll just ask his brother, Elijah," Katherine muttered, looking around the room. "So, what's got you all sad and mopey? Bad sex? Tyler doesn't look like a giver but you never know? And you can always teach a puppy tricks." Grinning, Katherine placed a hand on her hip while Caroline continued to stare at a point on the wall, only half-listening.

"Am I boring you?" Katherine snapped, folding her arms over her chest. "Because I'm only here to see if you're okay. Lena, being the goody-two-shoes she is, thought that maybe you were upset about the wedding and we should cheer you up. And by we, she meant me, since she's too busy knitting booties and kissing Salvatore ass."

"Kat, you know that's your sister, right?" Caroline asked, rolling her eyes but grinning anyway.

"Yes, and Elena is as boring as watching paint dry. Come on. Be glad you have the fun sister to help you through your funk. Let's go out and get drunk." Katherine came over to Caroline, holding out her hand and jerking Caroline to her feet.

Caroline couldn't help but smile. Sometimes Katherine's impulses led to unexpected delights. Not always. There was the time that she got a group of friends arrested in Mexico. Thankfully Tyler spoke fluent Spanish and, after having several drinks with the police captain, had gotten them released. Then there was the time that Katherine had nearly been kidnapped by a biker gang… It only took two days to get her home. And she begged to be sent back to Ricky "The Rattlesnake." Scary times.

The two women made their way to the door. Katherine moved toward her little convertible. "So when are you and Ty sending the sexy boarder on his way? You must be tired of his company and I wouldn't mind giving him a place to sleep," Katherine said as she strapped on her seatbelt.

Caroline gave her friend a look which Katherine did not observe because she was too busy hooking her seatbelt with a solid click. "Today. He decided to go today." Her words sounded dull and lifeless, dragging through the air and dropping to the ground to wither.

"Care, you okay? Seriously?" Katherine gave Caroline a fake pout of sympathy. "You seem unhappy about something. Did you want to keep the sexy boarder to yourself? Last minute jitters? I understand. Being tied to someone for the rest of your life would be a total nightmare. I love freedom so you'll never see me taking the plunge."

"It's not so bad… at first," Caroline muttered, her eyes focused on the trees that went by in a blur of green.

"You're not married yet," Katherine reminded her with a laugh.

"Yeah." Caroline nodded. If only. She continued to watch the world around her go by until Katherine stopped in front of the Grille. "Kat, you know it's like three in the afternoon. Not the time to get our drink on."

Katherine rolled her eyes. "You know, the longer you're with Tyler, the more you sound like Carol Lockwood. Can't have that, now can we?" She hopped out of her car and crossed to where Caroline was getting out.

Smirking at Katherine, Caroline looked at the bar and grille. "You're right. Mustn't have that." Hooking arms with Katherine, they strode to the door. The last person on earth she wanted to be was her disapproving soon-to-be-mother-in-law. Carol had a bug all the way up her ass. She figured the bug moved all the way up into her face and that's why she always looked like she had just sucked on a lemon. Well, almost always. Then there were the times that Damon was around.

Back in high school the group used to call her oldest brother: Mommy Bait because Damon seemed to attract the mothers. Like Carol and Matt's mom but Matt's mom seemed to like all guys, not just Damon.

Katherine and Caroline moved to the bar and sat down. Kat ordered first, leaning over so the young guy tending bar could see the tops of her breasts. "Put it on my tab," Katherine said. She didn't have a tab and Caroline knew it. Still she kept mum. It felt like they were still in high school, flirting with the bartenders to get free drinks when they were too young to be in a bar in the first place.

"Thank you," Katherine said, grinning at the bartender who was under her spell while she took the cherry between her lips, sucking on it.

Shaking her head, Caroline turned to look around the bar. The same people she had known all her life were there. Nothing seemed out of place. Then Kol, Elijah and Rebekah came in. Sans Klaus. Feeling her heart squeeze painfully, Caroline turned away from them.

This did not seem to phase Kol who came over and hopped onto the stool beside hers. "Caroline Forbes, fancy meeting you here, love. Shouldn't you be working out further wedding plans after the disastrous failure?"

Rebekah came over and swatted Kol across the back of his head. "Don't mind him, he's daft. Mother dropped him on his head as a mere babe. Doctor said he'd grow up with adequate abilities but that was because he overestimated Kol's abilities, greatly. He's really the family shame."

"Why don't you bloody well—" Kol began when Elijah came over and placed a heavy hand on Kol's shoulder.

"That will be enough," Elijah said quietly, effectively silencing his quarreling siblings.

Katherine tipped her head to the side. She had the stem of the cherry in her mouth, working on it as she examined Elijah in his suit, her eyes roving over his body with shameless appreciation. "You were at the disastrous wedding, weren't you?" she asked, withdrawing the stem with two fingertips.

"Yes, Elijah Mikaelson," Elijah held out a hand to Katherine who took it.

"You like?" Katherine inquired.

"Excuse me?" Elijah looked confused.

Katherine dangled the cherry stem between her fingertips so he could inspect it. "Some of my best work."

"I bet not," Kol muttered in a stage-whisper.

Elijah flicked Kol a disapproving look before returning his attention to Katherine. "Yes. I can see the artistic excellence in your efforts," he said drily but his eyes twinkled.

Caroline missed her brother-in-law's company. She wouldn't admit it aloud because bringing Elijah back into her life would mean bringing Klaus. They were like a set of batteries for your TV remote. You couldn't just have one.

"Caroline, I am sorry for Kol' comment," Elijah told her and Caroline looked into his warm brown eyes. Elijah had always been kind to her. Others in the family. Their mother for instance, had not always been so kind. It seemed Caroline had the worst luck with mother-in-laws.

"It's fine," Caroline brushed off Kol's insult with a wave of her hand. "He's Kol,"

"Let me make it up to you: Buy you a drink and a meal. Then a spin around the dance floor," Kol looked like a puppy and it only reminded Caroline of Klaus, causing her heart to squeeze.

"Sure. Why not." Caroline forced a bright smile.

"I'm assuming that you're paying for both of us," Katherine remarked while Caroline got up to follow the Mikaelsons to a booth.

Elijah glanced at Katherine. "I can pick up your tab," he told her, unbuttoning his suit jacket.

"I could get used to your being in town," Katherine retorted, giving her hips an extra swing as she moved to sit down across from Caroline.

Caroline looked at Katherine and Elijah across from her and Kol and Rebekah flanking her. This felt very much like a family. The family she had once hoped to be a part of when she stood in front of Klaus and said "'til death do us part." And, now, even after the betrayal of trust, a tiny part of her still wanted this family to be hers.

**Thank you for reading, faving, following and reviewing. **

**Guest: Thank you for reviewing and I am sorry in took forever to get an update together. **

**Peace, **

**Jessica**


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